| The Pentecost
Culture |
.
.
Just
how real is God to you? Is your reality God and everything defined within that
mental framework? Or is your reality this physical universe and you just
recognize God as it's creator?
If this physical universe seems more
real to you than God then your reality is the physical universe. If your
thoughts, feelings, emotions, logic, and concepts are not based on your
perceived presence of God then your reality is the physical universe. If your
attitudes, motivations, and behavior are not expressions of your perception of
God as the source of your existence then your reality is the physical universe.
If the way you spend your time as well as the people, relationships, activities
and things you treasure as important, are not derived from what you understand
is God's plan and purpose for your life then the physical universe is your
reality.
If you don't know that you have "oneness" with God and share
His nature then your reality is the physical universe. If you don't know the
part your mind plays in knowing the presence of God then your mind is filled
with worldly issues, concerns, desires, and objectives. If your feelings,
thoughts, desires, logic, concepts, attitudes, motivations, and behavior are
not expressions of his love (caring for the well being of others) then his
presence in your mind and life has not been established as it should.
If the reason you continue in this world is to be of help to others in
the service of God according to your calling then your commitment to God
prevails over your committment to the world. But if the reason you continue in
this world is driven by the pleasures and lusts of this world then God is not
your reality. If you get up from sleep to serve God according to your calling
and for no other reason, then God is your reality and you are his dedicated
servant. If you live by "faith" and obey God on that basis then you find his
favor. Living by faith is trusting that your thoughts, feeling, emotions,
logic, and concepts are formed by the presence of God in your life - by His
Spirit, one with your spirit, reshaping a once worldly mind into a mind like
the mind of Jesus Christ.
And if God is your reality it is a New Reality
that you did not have until you finally turned from the ways of the world and
turned your life over to the Holy Spirit as sent from God into your life by
Jesus Christ. If God is your reality then you know His presence in your life
and mind as His specific will for you reflects through your thoughts and
feelings and expresses in your attitudes, motivations, and behavior. This is
living by faith - allowing and expecting this process to take place is the
transformation as well as a personal experience that defines your specific
relationship to God through Christ and changes your reality from a worldly
reality to the New Reality where God is all in all.
If you have this New
Reality then you also know that you are part of a Divine Fellowship Of
Believers. That is, you have a relationship defined by a caring, intimate,
collaborative support with other true believers. You are "one" with these
believers just as you are "one" with God by means of the Spirit of God which
manifests as a common bond of love (caring for others), trust, and
understanding. If you have truly experienced God and He is your reality then
you want to be part of this fellowship because a personal relationship with God
inherently embeds the character of your relationship with others. The Spirit of
God active in this way is called the Holy Spirit. Christ manages the Divine
Fellowship and each member of that fellowship by means of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit is the expression of the Will of God as directed by Jesus Christ.
It is incumbent upon all true believers to reflect in their mind's willing
processes the directions provided to them by the Holy Spirit.
As a
general rule a Christian's attitudes and motivations reflect this will but with
each believer the Holy Spirit often reveals specific directions on specific
matters. This most often is not done in isolation but within the gathering
together of believers as each ministers to the other. Therefore this Divine
Fellowship Of Believers is not only an environment in which Christians are
expected to grow in their transformation but collectively is the physical
manifestation of Christ in today's world. Christians are to consider themselves
temples of the living God. The "church" or assembly of believers, is by virtue
of it's character and expression of the presence of God, a testimony of the
love of God in Christ to the world. The purpose therefore of evangelism is to
bring those of this world into the Divine Fellowship Of Believers. The Apostle
Paul called this Divine Fellowship of Believers The Body of Christ and each
believer was considered a member of that body with each having their own
calling and responsibilities in the service of the other's as defined to them
by the Holy Spirit.
This fellowship was evident and it's power
demonstrated in the form of a "culture" having a social framework as just
outlined. I call this culture the first century Pentecost Culture. I believe
God requires Christians to establish again, the first century Pentecost
Culture. I believe that in today's world many who call themselves Christians
are "playing" church like little children play house. Their play is imaginary
as is the coming of Santa Clause at Christmas, because the reality of the child
is this physical dimension. The play therefore is not their reality but simply
an imaginary break from their true or intrinsic reality.
Any
professing Christian that refuses to address this issue of the Pentecost
Culture is acting at odds with the Holy Spirit and is aiding the spirit of
anti-Christ. The so called Christian church is today divided and not
following the guidelines of attitude, motivation, and behavior outlined in the
New Testament. I call this "denominationalism". It exists as a "fake" church of
many competing pieces because God is not made the only reality in all its
parts. There is only one Body of Christ made up not of self appointed
leadership and followers but of those whose only reality is God. When the Holy
Spirit "moves" within the hearts of true believers they respond in one accord,
not division as in denominationalism. When the Holy Spirit "moves" within the
hearts of true believers they care for each other in one accord. This is true
evangelism. The purpose of God in Christ was to save mankind from a worldly
reality and transform that worldly reality into a New Reality where God is all
in all. That purpose is manifest in the Divine Fellowship Of Believers - the
Body of Christ - the true church - the Holy Spirit filled and led church - the
kingdom of God - the collection of believers who reach out to all parts of the
world and invite all to become citizens of heaven, members of the Divine
Fellowship, reconciled to God through Christ. Anyone who evangelizes and
dismisses as irrelevant the Divine Fellowship Of Believers is telling a lie in
their behavior. Anyone that claims to have a personal relationship with God and
dismisses divine fellowship is grieving the Holy
Spirit.
. |
.
There are over 50,000 words in the English
language and there is no single word or even group of words that convey the
significance and character of the culture that formed in Jerusalem on the day
of the Pentecost festival following the resurrection of Jesus. This culture
resulted from a special phenomena called "Baptized by the Holy Spirit", the
"gift of the Holy Spirit", the "Promise", and the "Anointing".
Since the
focus of this article is the Pentecost culture and the role of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit in that culture, it would be wise to define this word "culture"
so we are on the same wavelength. An anthropologist would define "culture" as
the sum total of attainments and learned behavior patterns of any specific
period, race, or people, regarded as expressing a traditional "way of life"
subject to gradual but continuous modification by succeeding generations. The
early Christian church in Jerusalem meets such a definition of a culture up to
the time it was scattered, but this general definition does not give us the
specifics of a culture. Such definitions go on to say that the way of life
covers the training, development, refinement of mind, morals, and taste -
enlightenment. These however are only categories and we need detail and we get
that detail from the New Testament.
It is my view that the "Pentecost
Culture" of the early church in Jerusalem is a model for how we should be
building our present day culture or sub culture, or community. To do that we
must understand the "Pentecost Culture" and what keeps it alive. If indeed,
this is God's social model we only fool ourselves if we think we can change the
community around us without adopting this model. The current culture is not
only worldly but one of church apostasy in the form of denominations that do
more by their existence to prevent this "Pentecost Culture" from occurring than
they do from the stand point of creating this culture. Christians cry out about
revival while they totally disregard the basics involved in revival, one of
which is the creation of a very special kind of community like the "Pentecost
Culture".
In addition to this model culture which serves as the
environment of revival is also the power driving that culture which is the
presence of the Holy Spirit in that culture. Associated with the Holy Spirit is
a phenomena called the "baptism of the Holy Spirit". This phenomena was
manifest throughout the believing community as a special kind of experience as
noted in several accounts in the book of Acts in a way that could be seen and
heard. This special kind of experience was associated with a concept of
"power". Jesus declared it to his disciples as a mandatory experience even
after they had received the Holy Spirit into their lives. This experience can
be partially defined as an enabling of the human mind to allow integration with
the Holy Spirit. The object of this experience is to begin a transformation of
the human mind towards a Christ like mind. This special kind of experience
called the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" is therefore the generation by the Holy
Spirit of a power or ability of the human mind to engage in this process of
transformation towards the New Reality. This baptism has some very definite
physical attributes in it's manifestation and leaves the one so baptized with
one or several special abilities that are to be used to minister to other
believers.
The impression the book of Acts seems to convey is that this
phenomena was common to all the believers and appeared to accompany their
conversion. But with others it appeared to occur after their conversion. It was
perceived as some kind of "mark" or "indication" of God's approval or
acceptance. It was the convincing factor regarding the correctness of including
the Gentiles with the Jews in God's program of redemption. It was also the
basis which justified for these Gentiles their baptism by water thus signifying
their repentance and engaging them in the process of redemption and
reconciliation to God through Christ.
According to a prophesy of Joel
this is to be an on going phenomena as a sign of the latter days in which we
now live. It is also a characteristic of the kind of culture we who are
reconciled to God through Christ are to strive to bring into place. That
culture is described by brief references many times through the book of Acts
and these descriptions agree with the social and life style teachings of Paul.
A significant aspect of this culture is the continuing together in
fellowship while being of a common accord or mind set. The character of that
fellowship is also described many times in the book of Acts. Details are
provided regarding state of mind of the believers, behavior of the believers,
deeds of the believers, and the caring and ministry that occurred between the
believers, as well as the life style of the believers. There are also
descriptions of how the Holy Spirit makes the "will of God" known in our minds
and uses other believers in this regard. In the book of Acts we see examples
where God's will is made known in ways that involve more than just a personal
revelation but also involving other believers and even a collaborative
interaction involving heated discussions and sharing of information. So we have
documented accounts of this growing culture and in enough detail to appreciate
the many ways the Holy Spirit reveals in the mind of man the Will of God for a
particular situation. In all cases that revelation requires the participation
of other believers each contributing some kind of influence on the others. In
other words, although we speak at a general level regarding this Pentecost
Culture social behavior, it is clear by the details that God reveals what he
expects a community of believers to do by involving members of that same
community in the unfolding expression and understanding of that revelation. It
is clear that our relationship with God automatically involves our relationship
with each other. We are to be part of a community of believers and function as
a part. This process of revelation to believers through social intercourse of
believers is therefore a decision making process within the Body of Christ or
community of God. It is a characteristic of the Pentecost Culture. In addition,
what stands out in all of this is the miraculous life experienced by the
believers and the attendance to healing by God. It would seem then that
although this Pentecost Culture is not a prerequisite to healing it is the
ideal environment where healing is commonplace as well as other
miracles.
The life style described for the "Pentecost Culture" is one
where the presence of God is recognized in all things. And the things of the
world are not only verbally discounted but also treated as easily discarded in
order to live in such a culture as the Pentecost Culture. By this we see that
our ability as believers to create and participate in a Pentecost Culture is
directly related to our sense of importance associated with the things of the
world. The more our mind is given over to the ways and things of the world, the
less likely we are to even want a Pentecost Culture never mind function in one.
The baptism is a means that helps us break free of lethargy and preoccupation
with the influences of the world.
Another characteristic of this
Pentecost Culture is an aggressive outreach to non believers called evangelism.
Evangelism in part is a reaching out by informing the non believer regarding
God's purpose and plan in Jesus Christ. But what we also see in this Pentecost
Culture as a result of announcing this news is a corresponding pull or
influence on the new believer to join into this Pentecost Culture. So we see
that although evangelism is a reaching out, what we also see in this
evangelistic culture is an emphasis on bringing into that culture or community
those that have been added to the faith thus extending the size of that
community. The purpose of evangelism then is to swell the ranks of the
believing community. But we should not forget that inherent in such evangelism
is the knowledge and appreciation of the type of this culture and the social
aspect in the form of participation of believers with one another in a close
and trusting collaborating intimate social intercourse. Therefore the character
or quality of this social experience is of far greater importance than the
number of believers. To think in terms of numbers is to miss the point of
evangelism. The emphasis through out the New Testament is not on numbers but on
the character and quality of our Christian experience. Many commentators
suggest the "power" associated with the "baptism" of the Holy Spirit is for the
announcing aspect of evangelism. This is because for them that is all that
evangelism is all about - numbers not character and quality of the believers
experience of God. Therefore, the term "power" must also convey the ability to
establish and maintain these intimate and collaborative social relationships
with other believers.
It is evident that within the Pentecost Social
Culture is a kind of "fear" throughout the community of believers as well as a
strict observance towards honesty with other members of this community of
believers as well as trust in and support of other members. The fear is
essentially a concern of maintaining this trust and support as a common accord
and supportive relationships with fellow believers. To lose this fear and
generate discord between believers is to display contempt for the Holy Spirit.
Such contempt means that the Holy Spirit is prevented from doing the individual
and collective transformation towards the New Reality where God is all in all.
God has ordained that the social relationships of believers be maintained as
explained. Such contemptuous behavior therefore grieves the Holy Spirit and
kills the social context. Such people that instigate such division have
therefore set themselves up as opposing the Holy Spirit regardless of what they
think of themselves. Members of the Pentecost Culture must be humble
recognizing that they are literally nothing without God and each other.
Therefore, how we think of ourselves is irrelevant. What is relevant is how God
thinks of us. We must meet the expectations of God. There should be no other
expectations. One aspect of this honesty is that honesty between members is
also considered as honesty to the Holy Spirit and dishonesty between members is
considered dishonesty with the Holy Spirit. This is a very important aspect of
the Pentecost Social Culture life style. A believer must view their well being
and relationship with God in terms of the well being and relationship of the
other believers. When one suffers we all suffer and when one succeeds we all
succeed. Without this frame of mind we cannot adequately express the love or
caring of God.
In the NIV bible the word Holy Spirit appears 102 times
with 94 of the references being in the New Testament and only 8 instances in
the Old Testament. The books of Luke and Acts (written by the same author as a
history of the Pentecost Culture) have the vast majority of references with 41
in Acts and 13 in Luke. These statistics reveal the emphasis of the culture
imbedding the influence of the Holy Spirit upon the behavior of believers in
the Jerusalem community.
Also evident in these writings are a variety of
words and expressions for which they all had a common usage and understanding.
Some of these words and expressions when interpreted into English do not appear
to convey the meaning given them by this Jerusalem community of believers. Here
are a few examples. The words "church", "angel", "fear", "faith", and the
expressions "In the name of", "Holy Spirit", "baptized in water", "baptized by
the Holy Spirit", as just a few.
Watch for these words and expressions
and critically examine the meaning in the given context. Check the Koine Greek
with the passages using these and other related words. Identify instances when
the culture is referred to as a culture based on what a culture is as defined
above. Note the role of the Holy Spirit and specifically identify this "Spirit
Baptism" both in terms of how the believers identify it and the circumstances
under which this baptism occurred. Imagine living in that culture. Imagine
being each of the characters mentioned in the book of Acts, verse by verse. Try
to recreate the context each time you do this imaginative exercise. Ask
yourself why Luke wrote down what he did and did not write other things down.
History is always a story told by some one and is therefore a view from their
perspective. What was the perspective of Luke? What do you suppose is the
importance in Lukes mind of each of the accounts he has recorded? Discover what
is common in these accounts and what is unique. Find out what Luke says of his
own writings. In terms of the social experience associated with the Pentecost
Culture as noted by Luke and others elsewhere in the New Testament, have you
experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Do you have that common experience
and how do you know that you have that common experience? Be humble, don't tell
God how to think, let God tell you how to think. Be objective and honest. Try
to discover the real experience of living in the Pentecost Culture. Now having
done all of that, how will you take what you have learned and apply it to your
life?
When reading these passages and visualizing yourself as one of the
characters, try to consider the key terms we are considering as "labels" and
then try to figure out what they mean in the various circumstances when
believers use those labels. Disregard what your lexicon says about these key
terms other than a basic meaning if it appears too vague and try to discover
the intended meaning and significance based on how these key terms are used.
Let the discourse in which you see these terms used tell you the meaning. You
may have to look at the discourse for each incident and compare all the
incidents in order to see the intent behind the use of the key terms. Is the
same thing said elsewhere but using different words? Do the key words have
shifts in meaning depending upon circumstances? Are the key terms conceptual
more so than designating a specific quality, attitude, motivation or behavior?
What is implied but not really specifically stated? Do there appear to be
assumptions on the part of the writer regarding when, how, and why these key
terms get used? What beliefs, attitudes, motivations, and behavior are
associated with these key terms?
This ends the introduction to the
Bible Study of the Pentecost Culture. Next to be added is that actual Bible
Study.
TO BE CONTINUED...
|
|
